The explosion in the northwest section of the Hayes Lemmerz wheel plant happened around 8:30pm Wednesday night. It's a section where workers say they melt aluminum magnesium in 1400-degree furnaces to make wheels.
75 to 80 workers were inside the building at the time of the blast.
The heat from the explosion was so extreme that the plant's roof actually buckled.
Fire crews were unable to use water to put out the fire because combining it with aluminum magnesium causes huge explosions.
Instead, firefighters used dry powders to contain the blaze.
The investigation into the cause of the explosion continues, but fire officials say the probable cause of the blast would be a dust explosion fueled by all the product within the area of the furnace.
Fire officials say they still aren't sure what ignited the blaze.
They also say the workers had turned the wheel system off, and that the explosion occured just 10 minutes after they turned it back on.
Fire crews continue to monitor the building and have put out a few small fires left burning inside.
The plant was shut down on Thursday morning.
Company leaders say first-shift workers should not report to work on Thursday.
WISE33 is continuing to cover this story. Stay tuned for the latest details.
This story was reprinted with permission of WISE News
